Health Alert: NCDC records 142 Lassa fever cases in 23 states, warns youths against infections

*The Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control and Prevention announces the number of suspected Lassa fever cases in the affected states of the Federation has increased, in  compared to the figure reported in the same period 2022, noting the youth population particularly, are at risk of disease infection in the country

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

The Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control and Prevention (NCDC) has disclosed that the health regulatory agency recorded about 142 deaths from Lassa fever across 23 states since the beginning of this year.

ConsumerConnect reports the NCDC noted this development via its official Web site Tuesday, March 28, 2023.

The agency said the 23 states of the Federation had recorded at least one confirmed case across 97 Local Government Areas (LGAs).

It also stated that the cases were reported from Edo, Ondo, Ebonyi, Bauchi, Taraba, Benue, Rivers, Plateau, and Nasarawa states.

The NCDC report stated: “71% of all confirmed Lassa fever cases were reported from these three states Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi”, whereas 29 percent of the cases were reported from 6 states with confirmed Lassa fever cases.

Of the 71% confirmed cases, Ondo reported 32%, Edo 29%, and Bauchi 10%, it noted.

In a comparative analysis with its report from last year, there was  an increase in the number of suspected cases

The regulator said: “The number of suspected cases increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2022.”

It also revealed that the youth population was at risk of being infected with the disease.

The NCDC further said: “The predominant age group affected is 21-30 years (Range: 1 to 93 years, Median Age:32 years.”